OMA&D Awarded Two Student Support Services Grants

By Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity

The University of Washington Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D) was recently awarded a pair of grants from the U.S. Department of Education to support low-income and first-generation college students, Vice President for Minority Affairs and Vice Provost for Diversity Sheila Edwards Lange announced Tuesday.

A new five-year, $1.1 million grant under the TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) Program will assist 120 students annually in their pursuit of undergraduate degrees in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The UW also received a five-year, $2.1 million grant renewal for its existing Student Support Services (SSS) program that serves 300 students.

“The University of Washington Seattle is one of a handful of higher education institutions around the nation that have received funding for the new SSS-STEM program, and also received a renewal for an existing SSS program,” Edwards Lange said. “It speaks both to the quality of the staff who write proposals and deliver services to TRIO students; and the reputation of the university nationally for supporting low-income and first-generation students.”

Both SSS Programs will offer eligible students supportive services such as academic advising and mentoring; writing, math and science instruction; financial aid and financial literacy; career advising; and advising towards graduate and professional school.

“This is great news for our campus, and for students from low-income and first-generation backgrounds,” OMA&D Associate Vice President Gabriel Gallardo said. “Funding for these two programs will allow our institution to continue to provide services to students who have traditionally not had access to higher education, while placing a greater emphasis on the development of a talent pool to enter STEM majors with the goal of preparing future engineers and scientists to enter our nation’s scientific workforce.”

For more information, contact Dr. Gabriel E. Gallardo, Associate Vice President at 206-221-2834 or gabegms@uw.edu.